WORLD REPORT EDITION TOP STORY
October 11, 2002
The Struggle Over Iraq
The world debates how to handle a leader who is accused of terrible crimes. Should we go to war?
What should be done about Iraq? Leaders around the world have been grappling with this question for months. Last week in Congress and at the White House, the United Nations and rallies in many countries, the debate grew more intense.
"We will not leave the future of peace and the security of America in the hands of this cruel and dangerous man," said President George W. Bush. The U.S. claims that Iraq’s leader, Saddam Hussein, is hiding dangerous weapons. Bush wants Hussein removed from power. This week, Congress continues to debate whether to give Bush the authority to use military force to overthrow him. However, the President could act even without such approval.
There is no doubt that Hussein has committed many evil acts, but not everyone agrees on how to deal with him. Many longtime U.S. allies oppose a military attack. They argue that innocent people will be hurt and that there is not enough proof that Iraq has these terrible weapons. Russia, France, China and Germany want to send inspectors into Iraq to search for weapons instead of launching an attack.
Many Americans do not want the U.S. to attack without other nations’ help. Polls last month show that only 33% of Americans support the U.S. going to war alone. “Only a broad coalition of nations, united to disarm Saddam, is likely to succeed,” said Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota.
Are Arms Inspections Enough?
At a meeting with U.N. officials in Austria last week, Iraq agreed to allow inspectors to enter the country. However, President Bush and his strongest supporter, British Prime Minister Tony Blair, say this is not enough. Hussein has broken international agreements before. When weapons inspectors were in Iraq after the 1991 Persian Gulf War, Hussein did not allow them to search his many presidential palaces. The U.S. says that is where the weapons may be.
"It is no good allowing inspectors access to 99% of Iraq, if the weapons of mass destruction are actually located in the remaining 1%," says Blair. Bush and Blair want the U.N. to include a threat of military action if Iraq does not allow the inspectors open access.
But President Bush has said that even without U.N. support, the U.S. will use force if Iraq doesn’t cooperate. U.S. and British planes have already conducted air strikes against targets in parts of Iraq. The military says it is in response to Iraqi aircraft entering restricted areas called no-fly zones and shooting at patrol planes.
Bush hopes to bring about the fall of Hussein and the rise of a more democratic government in Iraq that would help stabilize the region. Whether the U.S. will flex its military muscle to achieve this remains to be seen.
Life Under Saddam Hussein
On Saddam Hussein’s 65th birthday last April 28, Iraq threw a six-day celebration. There were parades, cakes and parties. In Hussein’s hometown of Tikrit, soldiers, farmers and schoolchildren filled a parade ground. As many as 10,000 marchers sang, "Happy year to you, President Hussein, who brought victory to us."
But the president was nowhere to be seen - except in the posters and statues that adorn street corners, hotel lobbies and restaurants. He is an invisible president, ruling in the shadows, hiding from enemies who want to kill him. Hussein has built dozens of vast palaces, but he never sleeps in them. He moves each night to a secret house or tent. Iraq’s president has bodyguards who are close relatives. "The only ones who love Saddam," says an Iraqi businessman, "are his family. Everyone else must be paid to love him."
Hussein has good reason to be fearful. Since he took power in 1979, he has ruled Iraq with an iron fist and made many enemies. Iraqis who offend him are tortured, jailed or executed. His army used poison gas to kill 50,000 to 100,000 of his own people. Their crime: They were Kurds, an ethnic minority in northern Iraq, and they wanted to rule their own region.
Since 1991, after Iraq invaded Kuwait, the United Nations has imposed economic sanctions, or punishments, on Iraq. Hussein claims that the sanctions have caused great suffering for Iraqis. The U.N. agrees. According to UNICEF, 1 million Iraqi children are suffering from malnutrition. Food and medicine are in short supply in many parts of Iraq. The U.N. allows Iraq to earn money from the sale of oil. Hussein has used much of that money to build his weapons arsenal and reward his followers. "He will make you a millionaire or kill you," says Francis Brooke, an American who advises an Iraqi group that opposes Hussein.
Hussein says Iraqis will fight off any attack. "If they come, we are ready," he told a British newspaper. The U.S. and its allies hope Hussein's enemies inside Iraq will also be ready for action.
http://www.timeforkids.com/TFK/magazines/story/0,6277,361844,00.html